Precise and powerful, the 20-ton Gamma Knife can destroy deep-seated brain tumors once considered inoperable. The Gamma Knife technology represents one of the most advanced means available to treat brain tumors. Gamma Knife radiosurgery is safer than many existing procedures because patients need not undergo risky, open-skull procedures, and adult patients do not require general anesthesia. The Gamma Knife is especially useful when conventional surgical techniques would pose high risk.
Surgeons deliver the Gamma Knife’s entire radiation dose in one treatment session lasting 10 to 40 minutes. The radiation dose each patient receives is “custom-designed” using a computer and in consultation with a radiation physicist and a radiation oncologist. Television monitoring is used throughout the procedure, and two-way voice contact between the physician and the patient is available. More than 50,000 patients have been treated worldwide with no mortality related to the procedure, and patients usually leave the hospital within 24 hours after stereotactic radiosurgery.
Gamma Knife surgery can be scheduled with Dr. John Flickinger at UPMC Presbyterian, or Dr. Susan Rakfal at UPMC McKeesport.
In-depth information on Gamma Knife, including an online informational video and virtual tour of the Gamma Knife suite, is available on the Department of Neurosurgery website.